Topic: Wharfedale Diamond 9 Series

[mYKi]

I just came from Spectra with my friend. Thanks Jim for the great service once more.

I really wanted to like this speaker since for the price, it's a no-brainer. I plan to use this for bedroom speakers.

We listened to the 9.1s using a highly awarded NAD C542 cd player (which I used to have and still plan to buy by Christmas) and the HK 130 AVR. We listened using the Audiophile Voices II cd.

Our immediate impression was that it didn't have bass. Looking at the spec sheet, it should reach down to 50Hz but it didn't sound that way. The highs of the 9.1s were also incomplete. It sounded veiled. It was definitely missing something up there. The vocals were excellent and quite enjoyable to listen to. I used to have the Diamond 8.1s and I would have to say that I liked that one better since that had a better low-end.

I was disappointed. I had to take the MRT from Ortigas during my lunch break, just to listen to this and I was expecting more. We then asked Jim to play the 9.3s. These were bookshelves as well but a lot bigger. The woofer is even bigger (I think) than the B&W 602S3.

With the 9.3s, the treble sound came out. I wonder why this had more detail since I assume that it had the same tweeter as the 9.1s. Maybe the 9.1s were not broken-in yet. The mids of the 9.3s seem the same, but again, the low-end bass was not there. It had more bass than the 9.1s but I would expect more just by the size of the woofers.

They have a Monitor Audio Bronze 2 at the store and I am certain that that speaker would sound a lot better than the Diamond 9.1 or 9.3. But of course, it is also a lot more expensive. If you plan to audition at Spectra, listen to the B2 also just so that you can have a comparison.

Conclusion:

I know the sound of the NAD C542 and the Audiophile Voices CD very much and I was very disappointed with what I heard. Right now, I'm thinking that it could possible be the HK AVR 130. Maybe it was not powerful enough for the 6-ohm Diamonds. It could also be break-in since I know that kevlar cones take a long time to burn-in.

After our audition, we went to the next shop, (I forgot the name) the one which sells Rotel and B&W and where Ed is the shop owner. They were also selling the 9.1s and they had it on display. We said, "meron ka rin palang 9.1s. What Hi-Fi product of the year iyan!" and you know what he said... "Ang pangit tumunog."  Medyo natawa kami sa reply niya since he was selling it! also for P5,500.

ANYWAY, please don't let this review stop you from auditioning the speakers. Go to Spectra, listen to the Diamonds, and write your own review here. But for me, my search for a bedroom speaker less than P10,000 goes on.

I will audition the Diamond 9's again at Sights and Sounds in Shangri-La. Maybe I will have a better experience there.

But wait! P5,500 for a pair of speakers?! Sobrang mura talaga and maybe I'm expecting it to sound like a P10,000 or even P30,000 speaker. Besides, what other P5k speakers around are there that can already sound a bit audiophile-like.

[Control]

Just the same, maybe we are expecting too much for these series...I dunno....we still have to find that out .....

[jcob]

Just the same, maybe we are expecting too much for these series...I dunno....we still have to find that out .....

IMO, a review comparing the diamomd 9 to its predecessor (diamond would be enough. Sa looks, boto ako dito sa bagong diamond. Pogi talaga. I don't know with the sound, if it's better than the diamond 8. Better nga ba? Pareho lang? Will the sonic difference be enough to replace your existing D8(for diamond 8 users)? How about when compared to wharfedale Evo series (considering their cabinet construction are the same)... ano nga difference ng evo sa 9 series?

dunno also..

[slayer]

Kayo naman... hintayin niyo muna mag brake-in in 4 years para bumukas ang tunog. 

j/k! 

[kid]

bias ka slayer hahahahaha

na-audition mo na ba pre tong 9 series?

[slayer]

Pre,

Di pa... medyo lay-low muna ako sa ht/audio ngayon.   

[kimpao]

Pre,

Di pa... medyo lay-low muna ako sa ht/audio ngayon.   

Pre kaya baised yan dahil nagpipigil yan. Ahehehehe

BTW, master islayer, ok na ba yung pinadala ko na docs last week

[kid]

Kaya pala lay-low ka din mag post dito pati sa mga session

[sebman]

Pre,

Di pa... medyo lay-low muna ako sa ht/audio ngayon.   

pre nag-iipon na ng pang-tubo?   

[chatstix]

Nice review Sir mYKi.

Our immediate impression was that it didn't have bass. Looking at the spec sheet, it should reach down to 50Hz but it didn't sound that way. The highs of the 9.1s were also incomplete. It sounded veiled. It was definitely missing something up there. The vocals were excellent and quite enjoyable to listen to. I used to have the Diamond 8.1s and I would have to say that I liked that one better since that had a better low-end.

did you consider where they placed the speakers when u auditioned it (eg. the proximity of it's back side to the wall behind it)? did they put it on a stable and solid speaker stand? i read on the manual that was lying on the table there that to get more bass its back must be situated near the wall but not too near coz the bass will sound "boomy".

With the 9.3s, the treble sound came out. I wonder why this had more detail since I assume that it had the same tweeter as the 9.1s. Maybe the 9.1s were not broken-in yet. The mids of the 9.3s seem the same, but again, the low-end bass was not there. It had more bass than the 9.1s but I would expect more just by the size of the woofers.

i also noticed this when i auditioned the diamond 9.5. mas makalansing at defined ang treble as compared to that of the 9.1's eh kung titingnan mo same size ang material ng tweeters nila. ang pinagkaiba lang, i noticed and i'm not sure if this made the difference, is yung housing ng tweeter. regarding sa bass and mids sa 9.5 eh no brainer na kung alin ang mas maganda coz the 9.5 has separate drivers for this. sana audition mo na rin ang 9.5, wala ka na bang nakita dun na display? hehehehe      

After our audition, we went to the next shop, (I forgot the name) the one which sells Rotel and B&W and where Ed is the shop owner. They were also selling the 9.1s and they had it on display. We said, "meron ka rin palang 9.1s. What Hi-Fi product of the year iyan!" and you know what he said... "Ang pangit tumunog."  Medyo natawa kami sa reply niya since he was selling it! also for P5,500.

i think the shop you're referring to is Sound Dimension which is beside Odyssey record bar. i also went there yesterday, same price, pero 9.1 lang meron sila. ganun din ang sabi sa akin pero not to the extent na sinabi nya na "Ang pangit tumunog." when i went to spectra and told that to jim, he coyly replied (not his exact words ha, but similar to this effect) "Baka naman sira na ang tenga nila." or "Baka naman tenga nila ang pangit." hehehehe

anyways, my hats off to you for the effort you did to audition it and the review you shared. o, yung iba naman jan ang mag audition (libre naman) at share nyo dito  

[kimpao]

pre nag-iipon na ng pang-tubo?   

master slayer, di ka kaya tubuhin ni misis niyan kung sakali? 

[Chito C.]

kakapunta ko lang sa spectra. Sino bumili nung 9.5? Di ko tuloy na test.

[H a n $]

kakapunta ko lang sa spectra. Sino bumili nung 9.5? Di ko tuloy na test.

Congrats pala ulit Chatstix 9.5 and 9.1 he got it from Spectra..

[H a n $]

ano nga difference ng evo sa 9 series?

dunno also..

Bro, was able to audition the Diamond 9.3 notice that IMHO almost same na sila in MID department nun EVo 30 ko (nun di pa broken in EVo ) as for high can't tell since di pa breakin yun Diamond.. but according sa spec mas mataas yun Diamond 25Hz compare to Evo 20Hz lang..

[H a n $]

Guys,

I remember dati when i auditioned Wharf Evo 8 naka hook up sa NAD power amp and the sound is also as MYki mention roll off high and little bass pero yun vocals ok naman pero minsan muddy so i ask Jim to switch amps to HK.....ayun nagiba sound... tapos next audition ko Tube na dala ko...

[Control]

hmmm...mayroon na po bang naka-try sa inyo using different receiver during audition like yamaha or onkyo or marrantz? 

[Vhongbiker]

meron na po bang nakakita or available na po kaya ibang color, other than black? cguro mas gwapo pag wood color.

[H a n $]

meron na po bang nakakita or available na po kaya ibang color, other than black? cguro mas gwapo pag wood color.

Wala pa ata ibang color pero sana meron na bago mag Dec.

[kid]

walastix talaga! dalawang diamond 9 na pala ang nakawala sa cuadra kung sino man yung bumili nun, congrats at sana parinig mo naman sa amin

[shuttertrigger]

walastix talaga! dalawang diamond 9 na pala ang nakawala sa cuadra kung sino man yung bumili nun, congrats at sana parinig mo naman sa amin

agree!!! parinig naman dyan....hehehhehe

[kimosabe]

Sa nakabili ng 9.5, ano difference ng 9.5 sa 8.4? Malaki ba? Im planning to buy 8.4 kasi pero hold ko muna dahil release na ang Diamond 9 series.

Thanks and congrats.

 

[chatstix]

Congrats pala ulit Chatstix 9.5 and 9.1 he got it from Spectra..

sir, isa lang dun kinuha ko. actually, i got the 9.1 na, nakalabas na ako ng parking when it suddenly hit me na it's d 9.5 i really liked. since i got 8.2 na as my surrounds which is more than adequate in its purpose. my original plan was to wait for the 9.6, and start building up my 5.1 series 9 setup by first buying the 9.1. and since i was impressed by the 9.5 and thought i should've bought it instead of the 9.1. gulo no?

so, i stopped at the entrace of park square one fronting the entrance to glorietta and i told my wife to go to spectra again and ask if i can make an exchange, add na lang ako ng 7k. Spectra agreed, my wife withdrew some more cash, and i waited in my car (mahal bayad ng parking kung mag park ulit ako...hehehe. besides closing time na rin nun). therefore, isa lang ang nabili ko hindi dalawa.  

no regrets whatsoever when i made the exchange and my wife told me that it was really a good improvement. her exact words: "malinis at pino ang boses", "distinct and detailed ang sound", "ganda ng tunog". next item to buy: diamond 9 center.cm. kelan kaya magiging available ito?  

[H a n $]

sir, isa lang dun kinuha ko. actually, i got the 9.1 na, nakalabas na ako ng parking when it suddenly hit me na it's d 9.5 i really liked. since i got 8.2 na as my surrounds which is more than adequate in its purpose. my original plan was to wait for the 9.6, and start building up my 5.1 series 9 setup by first buying the 9.1. and since i was impressed by the 9.5 and thought i should've bought it instead of the 9.1. gulo no?

so, i stopped at the entrace of park square one fronting the entrance to glorietta and i told my wife to go to spectra again and ask if i can make an exchange, add na lang ako ng 7k. Spectra agreed, my wife withdrew some more cash, and i waited in my car (mahal bayad ng parking kung mag park ulit ako...hehehe. besides closing time na rin nun). therefore, isa lang ang nabili ko hindi dalawa.  

no regrets whatsoever when i made the exchange and my wife told me that it was really a good improvement. her exact words: "malinis at pino ang boses", "distinct and detailed ang sound", "ganda ng tunog". next item to buy: diamond 9 center.cm. kelan kaya magiging available ito?  

Guys,

Ayan umamin na hehehehe  Congrats bro!!

[Control]

sir, isa lang dun kinuha ko. actually, i got the 9.1 na, nakalabas na ako ng parking when it suddenly hit me na it's d 9.5 i really liked. since i got 8.2 na as my surrounds which is more than adequate in its purpose. my original plan was to wait for the 9.6, and start building up my 5.1 series 9 setup by first buying the 9.1. and since i was impressed by the 9.5 and thought i should've bought it instead of the 9.1. gulo no?

so, i stopped at the entrace of park square one fronting the entrance to glorietta and i told my wife to go to spectra again and ask if i can make an exchange, add na lang ako ng 7k. Spectra agreed, my wife withdrew some more cash, and i waited in my car (mahal bayad ng parking kung mag park ulit ako...hehehe. besides closing time na rin nun). therefore, isa lang ang nabili ko hindi dalawa. 

no regrets whatsoever when i made the exchange and my wife told me that it was really a good improvement. her exact words: "malinis at pino ang boses", "distinct and detailed ang sound", "ganda ng tunog". next item to buy: diamond 9 center.cm. kelan kaya magiging available ito? 

Ayus..congratz dude....

[mYKi]

did you consider where they placed the speakers when u auditioned it (eg. the proximity of it's back side to the wall behind it)? did they put it on a stable and solid speaker stand? i read on the manual that was lying on the table there that to get more bass its back must be situated near the wall but not too near coz the bass will sound "boomy".

i also noticed this when i auditioned the diamond 9.5. mas makalansing at defined ang treble as compared to that of the 9.1's eh kung titingnan mo same size ang material ng tweeters nila. ang pinagkaiba lang, i noticed and i'm not sure if this made the difference, is yung housing ng tweeter. regarding sa bass and mids sa 9.5 eh no brainer na kung alin ang mas maganda coz the 9.5 has separate drivers for this. sana audition mo na rin ang 9.5, wala ka na bang nakita dun na display? hehehehe     

i think the shop you're referring to is Sound Dimension which is beside Odyssey record bar. i also went there yesterday, same price, pero 9.1 lang meron sila. ganun din ang sabi sa akin pero not to the extent na sinabi nya na "Ang pangit tumunog." when i went to spectra and told that to jim, he coyly replied (not his exact words ha, but similar to this effect) "Baka naman sira na ang tenga nila." or "Baka naman tenga nila ang pangit." hehehehe

anyways, my hats off to you for the effort you did to audition it and the review you shared. o, yung iba naman jan ang mag audition (libre naman) at share nyo dito 

It was around 1.5m away from the backwall. I'm sure the anemic bass was also because of that. The backwall of Spectra has various audio gears so that also acts as a sound-absorption object. That's why I'd like to also audition the 9.1s in a different place. Jim placed it on top of a floorstander and it looked very stable naman.

Yup! Sound Dimension nga yung place. I guess kaya ganoon ang reply niya about the 9.1s since close customer niya yung friend ko. Doon bumili yung friend ko ng lahat ng gear niya.... until I exposed my friend to my Marantz.  :-)  Sabi kasi ng shopowner doon, na pangit daw ang Marantz, mas maganda daw yung Onkyo na binibenta niya. Ayun! Napabili siya ng Onkyo. Noong pina-home-audition ko yung Marantz ko eh binenta niya kaagad yung Onkyo niya. hehehe

So in other words, yung dealer sa SD, eh solid promoter talaga ng B&W and Rotel and sasabihin niya na pangit na lahat. I couldn't even imagine that he said na bug-bog sarada daw ang Monitor Audio B2 sa B&W DM303. Eh kakabili ko lang ng B2 para sa bookstore ng kapatid ko.

Actually, a good way for us to know the capabilities of the 9.1s, is kung meron pwedeng magpahiram sa akin ng 9.1s and kabit ko sa bahay to my system. Kahit na half-day lang.   

Congrats sa 9.5's mo. Bilib ako doon sa SARS incubation period mo. Mas mabilis pa sa alas-singko. 

[chatstix]

Congrats sa 9.5's mo. Bilib ako doon sa SARS incubation period mo. Mas mabilis pa sa alas-singko. 

yeah, panibagong strain ata ito eh. hehehe.  pero umnom na ako ng serum, would last 1 year before maapektuhan ulit ng sars 

[PLiSKiN]

mga sirs... gaano b dpat kalakas pg break-in period itong mga speaker n ito? im using hk-130. & gaano po katagal ang break-in period. tnX!

[iceman90a]

moderate volume - di kumakalabog, break in time depends on usage, basta gamitin mo lang - mapapansin mo mas relaxed na tunog nya... yun pwede mo na ihataw ng malakas lakas

[av_phile1]

sir, isa lang dun kinuha ko. actually, i got the 9.1 na, nakalabas na ako ng parking when it suddenly hit me na it's d 9.5 i really liked. since i got 8.2 na as my surrounds which is more than adequate in its purpose. my original plan was to wait for the 9.6, and start building up my 5.1 series 9 setup by first buying the 9.1. and since i was impressed by the 9.5 and thought i should've bought it instead of the 9.1. gulo no?

so, i stopped at the entrace of park square one fronting the entrance to glorietta and i told my wife to go to spectra again and ask if i can make an exchange, add na lang ako ng 7k. Spectra agreed, my wife withdrew some more cash, and i waited in my car (mahal bayad ng parking kung mag park ulit ako...hehehe. besides closing time na rin nun). therefore, isa lang ang nabili ko hindi dalawa.  

no regrets whatsoever when i made the exchange and my wife told me that it was really a good improvement. her exact words: "malinis at pino ang boses", "distinct and detailed ang sound", "ganda ng tunog". next item to buy: diamond 9 center.cm. kelan kaya magiging available ito?  

Wow, good for you chatstix and congrats.  I personally prefer floorstanders over bookshelfs on the same product line that share the same mid or tweets.  If the 9.5 costs less than P13,000 a pair, that's a real bargain considering that the net site I've visited lists its SRP as 350 pounds sterling.  What did you get, black or birch?  The birch looks nice to me.



I just noticed its anechoic sensitivity is 86db/1watt/1meter.  You must have a really powerful amp to make it sing its best.  What amp are you using? 

I find it odd that the center speaker is not yet available.  I think they have 3 models for center, starting at 100 pounds.

[Control]

mga sirs... gaano b dpat kalakas pg break-in period itong mga speaker n ito? im using hk-130. & gaano po katagal ang break-in period. tnX!

yung sa wharf ko, it took me approx. 1 week @ 8 - 9 hours/day with -30db volume on my yammie..